All Posts by Alex Dobie

Pre-orders start tomorrow, in-store from June 14
Last night we heard that new colors of the Samsung Galaxy S4 would be arriving this summer, and now we have the first details of when and from whom. AT&T has confirmed that it'll exclusively stock the "aurora red" Galaxy S4 in the U.S., and sends word that the device will be available to pre-order from tomorrow, May 24. Brick-and-mortar AT...

'Facebook phone' skipping British release, EE spokesperson confirms
It looks like the HTC First might never see the light of day in the UK, as a spokesperson for carrier partner EE has confirmed to Android Central that Facebook is holding off plans to bring the handset to British shores. "Facebook has decided to focus on adding new customisation features to Facebook Home over the coming months...

Number given to the Wall Street Journal by unnamed HTC executive
HTC has sold approximately five million of its latest flagship smartphone, the HTC One, according to a report from the Wall Street Journal. The paper quotes an unnamed HTC executive saying the company had sold "around five million" HTC One devices since the launch around a month and a half ago.
"Orders are pretty good so far and...

'Huge honor' for the Google Now team, says Matias Duarte
Google Now -- Google's card-based predictive search tool -- has been awarded the grand prize for "best everyday utility" at the 2013 User Experience Awards. To claim the prize, Google Now saw off competition from a wide variety of different projects, including Belkin's WeMo home automation system and healthcare startup ZocDoc.
Announcing...

Web-based Appstore now available in the UK
Amazon has announced that its Appstore for Android -- the Google Play rival operated by the online retail giant -- is now available in almost 200 countries following its expansion of the service. In a press release today, Amazon also revealed that the Kindle Fire is spreading its reach across the globe, with the total countries in which it's...

New 'Holo light' UI brings Magazines in line with latest Play Music and Play Store apps
Google has updated the Play Magazines app for Android to verison 2.0, bringing a new, lighter user interface. The new version of the app draws inspiration from the recent updates to Google Play Music and the Play Store, both of which have received UI updates in the past month or so. Everything's generally a...

Headed to Russia, Ukraine, Middle East and Asia from June
Just 24 hours after the name was initially leaked, HTC has officially announced the Desire 600, a new mid-range handset aimed at Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Asia. The HTC Desire 600 sports many of the headline features of HTC's current flagship, the HTC One. You've got Jelly Bean (we presume Android 4.1, not 4.2) and Sense 5.0,...

HTC 'Desire 200' gets certified in Taiwan, 'Desire 600' spotted in benchmarks
HTC looks set to restore the "Desire" brand for upcoming entry-level phones, according to details spotted across the web. The first comes from Taiwan's NCC certification body, which recently saw new entries for a "Desire 200" handset alongside the model number "102e" -- a number previously tied to the rumored entry-...

$54.99 down payment or $599.99 outright
Arriving fashionably late to the Galaxy S4 party is Cricket, with today's news that it'll carry Samsung's latest smartphone from June 7. The prepaid carrier is offering the Galaxy S4 for $599.99 up-front or on a payment plan with a $54.99 down payment. Naturally, you'll need to pair the device with one of Cricket's service plans, which start at $45 per...

Company surpasses IBM to take number two spot on BrandZ list
Google has been ranked as the world second-most valuable brand, on the 2013 BrandZ list of top global brands. The list, published by research agency Millward Brown Optimor, puts Google's brand value at $113.669 billion, well behind Apple's $185.071 billion. This year Google creeps ahead of IBM, last year's number two, which now sits...

Carrier will likely wait for compatible iPhone
Vodafone UK will wait until September to launch its 4G LTE services, according to reports. British national newspaper The Guardian reports that Voda will miss the originally-targeted summer launch window for its LTE network, which runs on 800MHz and 2600MHz airwaves purchased as part of the recent 4G spectrum auction.
The Guardian quotes Vodafone...

Departures include VP of Global Communications, Chief Product Officer, Asia CEO
Update 2: HTC has confirmed the departure of Lennard Hoornik, and says CFO Chialin Chang will take over in the interim. Engadget is also reporting that Head of Global Digital Service Elizabeth Griffin will be leaving HTC later this week. Meanwhile, The Verge's Chris Ziegler tweets that he's "catching wind of a...

Available from June, no pricing details available yet
Following T-Mobile's announcement yesterday, Sprint-based MVNOs Boost Mobile and Virgin Mobile have confirmed that they'll offer a 4G LTE-capable Galaxy S3 from next month. The device will run on Sprint's 4G LTE network, which will be available to Virgin and Boost customers in some 88 markets.
Pricing for the phone itself remains up in the...

i500 LTE modem gains support for 150Mbps LTE with software update
At CTIA in Las Vegas, chipmaker NVIDIA has taken the opportunity to showcase the LTE capabilities of its upcoming Tegra 4i SoC, its mobile processor designed for mainstream smartphones. Announced back in February, Tegra 4i includes an integrated NVIDIA i500 LTE modem -- the new "soft modem" that can be reprogrammed over-the-air...

Optimus G Pro also rumored for the Now Network
LG is keen to make inroads into the budget LTE space with its Optimus F series devices, first announced at Mobile World Congress back in February. But one device that wasn't shown in Barcelona was the Optimus F3, a budget-focused 4G handset with a 4-inch WVGA display. Now it seems the F3 may be headed to Sprint, as prolific leaker @evleaks has...

Rugged Galaxy S4 variant crops up once again in Croatia
Following yesterday's first photo appearance, today brings us a very quick video encounter with the Samsung Galaxy S4 Active. The ruggedized S4 variant, which sports physical buttons and a 1080p HD display, was captured in Croatia by an informant for MobileTechReview. The video mentions that it's powered by a Snapdragon S4 Plus CPU,...

New WebKit-powered Opera 14 stable now available for Android
The Opera browser for Android has exited beta and arrived on the Google Play Store as a fully-fledged stable app. The mobile version of the long-running browser is based upon the WebKit rendering engine -- the same software used by the stock Android browser and (for the moment) Google Chrome.
But it's user-facing features rather than...

On sale today, prices start at £399 for 16GB + Wifi
A couple of months after Sony first started taking pre-orders, its Xperia Tablet Z slate is now available to buy in the UK. Prices start at £399 for 16GB of storage and Wifi connectivity (black only), or you can opt for 32GB with Wifi (black and white) or 16GB with Wifi and 4G LTE connectivity (black only). The Tablet Z isn't the cheapest...

Official Google+ app hits version 4.0 with Snapseed photo tools and more
Update: The new version of Google+ is now live!
Following on from the 41 new Google+ features announced at Google I/O last week, Google has unveiled one more to bring the count up to 42 -- a new Google+ app for Android. The new Google+ version 4.0 incorporates many of the photo management and enhancement features of the...

Galaxy Exhibit also tipped for May 29 arrival
With the Samsung Galaxy S4 launch over and done with, T-Mobile USA is looking to bolster its smartphone line-up with an LTE-capable version of the Galaxy S3. T-Mobile internal screenshots obtained by TmoNews show a Jun. 5 launch date for the device. No word on pricing yet, but TmoNews speculates that the carrier will likely replace its current HSPA...